Help:Referencing for beginners - Wikipedia
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This help page is a
how-to guide
It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines
, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus
Shortcuts
WP:REFB
WP:REFB
WP:REFBEGIN
WP:REFBEGIN
WP:REFSTART
WP:REFSTART
This page assumes you are using the source editor. Alternatively, learn
referencing in VisualEditor
The
source editor
shows underlying wiki markup like
[[Earth]]
. The
VisualEditor
works like a word processor.
"Wikipedian protester" by
Randall Munroe
xkcd
. Wikipedians famously demand
citations for claims
One of the key policies of Wikipedia is that all article content has to be
verifiable
. This means that
reliable sources
must be able to support the material.
All quotations, any material whose verifiability has been challenged or is likely to be challenged, and contentious material about
living persons
(whether negative, positive, or neutral) must include an
inline citation
to a source that directly supports the material. This also means that Wikipedia is not the place for
original work
, archival findings that have not been published, or evidence from any source that has not been published.
If you are adding new content, it is
your responsibility
to add sourcing information along with it. Material provided without a source is significantly more likely to be removed from an article. Sometimes it will be tagged first with a "
citation needed
" template to give editors a chance to find and add sources, but some editors will simply remove it because they question its veracity.
This tutorial will show you how to add inline citations to articles, and also briefly explain what Wikipedia considers to be a reliable source.
Inline citations
Shortcut
WP:INTREF2
WP:INTREF2
Inline citations
are usually small, numbered footnotes like this.
They are generally added either immediately following the fact that they support, or at the end of the sentence that they support. When clicked, they take the reader to a
citation
in a reference section near the bottom of the article.
While editing a page that uses the most common footnote style, you will see inline citations displayed between
ref
...
ref
tags.
If you are creating a new page, or adding references to a page that didn't previously have any, remember to add a
references section
like the one below
near the end
of the article:
==References==
{{
reflist
}}
Note that this is by far the most popular way to use
inline citations
, but sometimes you will find other styles being used in an article. This
is acceptable
, and you shouldn't change it or mix styles. To add a new reference, just copy and modify an existing one.
References
Wales, Jimmy (2026).
What is an inline citation?
. Wikipublisher. p. 6.
RefToolbar
Shortcut
WP:INTREF3
WP:INTREF3
This screencast walks through how to use RefTools
Manually adding references can be a slow and tricky process. Fortunately, there is a tool called "
RefToolbar
" built into the Wikipedia edit window, which makes it much easier.
To use it, click on
Cite
at the top of the edit window, having already positioned your cursor after the sentence or fact you wish to reference. Then select one of the 'Templates' from the dropdown menu that best suits the type of source. These are:
{{
cite web
}}
for references to general websites
{{
cite news
}}
for newspapers and news websites
{{
cite book
}}
for references to books
{{
cite journal
}}
for magazines, academic journals, and papers
A template window then pops up, where you fill in as much information as possible about the source, and give a unique name for it in the "Ref name" field. Click the "Insert" button, which will add the required wikitext in the edit window. If you wish, you can also "Preview" how your reference will look first.
Some fields (such as a web address, also known as a URL) will have a
icon next to them. After filling in this field, you can click it to handily autofill the remaining fields. It doesn't always work properly, though, so be sure to double check it.
Often, you will want to use the same source more than once in an article to support multiple facts. In this case, you can click
Named references
in the toolbar, and select a previously added source to re-use.
Reliable sources
Shortcut
WP:INTREF4
WP:INTREF4
Wikipedia articles require
reliable, published sources
that directly support the information presented in the article. Now you know
how
to add sources to an article, but
which
sources should you use?
The word "source" in Wikipedia has three meanings: the work itself (for example, a document, article, paper, or book), the creator of the work (for example, the writer), and the publisher of the work (for example, Cambridge University Press). All three can affect reliability.
Reliable sources are those with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. They tend to have an editorial process with multiple people scrutinizing work before it is published.
Academic and peer-reviewed publications
are usually the most reliable sources. Other reliable sources include university textbooks, books published by respected publishing houses, magazines, journals, and news coverage (
not opinions
) from
mainstream newspapers
Self-published media
, where the author and publisher are the same, are usually
not
acceptable as sources. These can include newsletters, personal websites, press releases, patents, open wikis, personal or group blogs, and tweets. However, if an author is an established expert with a previous record of third-party publications on a topic, their self-published work
may
be considered reliable for that particular topic.
Whether a source is usable also depends on context. Sources that are reliable for some material are not reliable for other material. For instance, otherwise unreliable self-published sources
are usually acceptable
to support uncontroversial information about the source's author. You should always try to use the best possible source, particularly when writing about
living people
These are general guidelines, but the topic of reliable sources is a complicated one, and is impossible to fully cover here. You can find more information at
Wikipedia:Verifiability
and at
Wikipedia:Reliable sources
. There is also a
list of commonly used sources
with information on their reliability.
Try it! Take a quiz on reliable sources
See also
Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide § Adding a new reference
Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide § Editing references
Help:Referencing for beginners without using templates
Help:Referencing for beginners with citation templates
Help:Citations quick reference
Help:References and page numbers
Wikipedia:References dos and don'ts
Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
Wikipedia:Citation templates
User:Nick Moyes/Easier Referencing for Beginners
Wikipedia referencing
Policies and guidelines
Verifiability
No original research
Biographies of living persons
Reliable sources
Medicine
Citing sources
Scientific citations
General advice
Citation needed
Combining sources
Offline sources
Referencing styles
Citing sources
Citation Style 1
Citation Style 2
Bluebook
Comics
Citation templates
Inline citations
Footnotes
Punctuation and footnotes
Shortened footnotes
Nesting footnotes
Help for beginners
Reference-tags
Citations quick reference
Introduction to referencing
Referencing with citation templates
Referencing without using templates
Referencing dos and don'ts
Citing Wikipedia
Advanced help
Cite link labels
Cite errors
Citation merging (bundling)
Cite messages
Converting between references formats
Reference display customization
References and page numbers
Guidance on source reviewing at FAC
Cite extension documentation
Footnote templates
Citation Style documentation
Multiple references
{{
Reflist
}}
{{
Refbegin
}}
Find references
How to find sources
Bibliographies
Wikipedia Library
Resource Exchange
Reference Desk
Book Sources
Free newspaper sources
Citation tools
(External links)
Citer
Citation bot
MakeRef
Refill
WayBack
OABot
Citation Style 1
General
templates
{{
Cite book
}}
books
{{
Cite conference
}}
conference papers
{{
Cite document
}}
short, stand-alone, offline documents
{{
Cite encyclopedia
}}
edited collections
{{
Cite interview
}}
interviews
{{
Cite journal
}}
academic journals
{{
Cite magazine
}}
magazines
{{
Cite mailing list
}}
public mailing lists
{{
Cite map
}}
maps
{{
Cite news
}}
news articles
{{
Cite newsgroup
}}
online newsgroups
{{
Cite press release
}}
press releases
{{
Cite report
}}
unpublished reports
{{
Cite sign
}}
signs, plaques
{{
Cite speech
}}
speeches
{{
Cite tech report
}}
technical reports
{{
Cite thesis
}}
theses
{{
Cite web
}}
web sources
Preprint templates
{{
Cite arXiv
}}
{{
Cite bioRxiv
}}
{{
Cite CiteSeerX
}}
{{
Cite medRxiv
}}
{{
Cite SSRN
}}
Audiovisual-related
{{
Cite AV media
}}
{{
Cite AV media notes
}}
{{
Cite episode
}}
{{
Cite podcast
}}
{{
Cite serial
}}
Categories
Citation Style 1 templates
Citation Style 1 specific-source templates
Documentation
{{
Citation Style documentation
}}
Citation Style 1 noticeboard
Introduction
Starting introduction
Policies and Guidelines
Source editor
Editing
Referencing
Images
Tables
VisualEditor
Editing
Referencing
Images
Tables
Talk pages
Navigating
Manual of Style
Conclusion
Retrieved from "
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